Our not for profit care homes have a 'good' CQC rating, 5* food hygiene and are pet friendly.
Our care homes
Here are some more areas we know are important to think about when choosing a care home:
Activities
Our mission, to help people live their later life to the full, means we place great emphasis on our daily activities. We know how important activities are for the wellbeing of each resident and their quality of life.
Activities are arranged each morning and afternoon, in addition to residents coming together to socialise or enjoy hobbies of their own. Our activity programme is regularly changed to reflect the choices of our current residents.
Residents enjoy trips out and spending time in the grounds surrounding each home.
Food and nutrition
We know that meal times are an important part of the day for our residents and we take great pride in offering a seasonal daily menu which has a selection of delicious, nutritionally balanced meals throughout the day.
Residents choose on the day what they would like from the menu and the chef prepares all meals with fresh ingredients. We cater for individual dietary requirements and personal preferences, and we’re proud to have been awarded five stars for our food hygiene.
We serve refreshments including tea, coffee, biscuits and homemade cake each morning and afternoon. We have a fruit bowl and juice bar for residents to enjoy throughout the day.
Residents meet regularly with our Chef Manager to give their feedback and make suggestions for new menus.
All four care homes have a 5* food hygiene award. 
Your room
If you or your loved one decide to make a permanent move into one of our care homes you will have your own room. We encourage residents to personalise their room with their own belongings so they can create a homely feel and make it their own.
For example, you can bring your own bed, furniture, chairs, pictures and television. The majority of our rooms are en-suite and we also have a few double rooms which can accommodate two people.
Each room has a telephone connection so residents can have their own landline number and wi-fi. We also have guest wi-fi access throughout our care homes. Every room has a television aerial and an emergency call system in the bedroom and bathroom. We also offer residents a pendant to wear which is linked to the call system.
Get involved - care home
Engaging and involving our residents is important to us. We constantly seek ideas, feedback and suggestions from our residents and their family in order to continuiously improve our service. Here are some of the more formal ways we gain feedback:
Resident meeting - Our residents meet regularly with our care home manager, they share feedback, staff updates and plan events.
Catering meeting - We hold catering meetings with our chef manager so residents can feedback about our dishes and make suggestions for the menu.
Resident satisfaction survey - Every year we formally ask residents for their feedback in a questionnaire. This is annonymous feedback about all areas of our service.
Relative satisfaction survey - It’s important that relatives or next of kin have the opportunity to share their feedback too. We conduct a questionnaire with relatives every year about our service.
Paying for care
Our care home fees are based on the care needs of each resident and their choice of room within our home. We have varying levels of care provision and different types of room, based on the size, outlook and facilities.
All inclusive pricing - Our care fees include all accommodation and household bills, personal care, all meals, snacks and non-alcoholic refreshments, and the cleaning and laundry service. Extra services can be purchased as required, such as telephone, hairdressing and chiropody.
Assess your situation - Some people have the resources to pay for their care in full and others make means tested contributions. There are national limits that determine eligibility for funding assistance which are set by the government and are subject to change, so we advise you to check current figures when choosing a care home.
Paying for care yourself - People who pay for their own care can contact our care homes directly to arrange viewings and request a room. We conduct a needs-based assessment to make sure we are able to meet the person’s needs. We advise that you thoroughly read through the contract before signing and make sure you are clear about what you are paying for.
Requesting support - If you need to request care home funding support you firstly should speak to your GP and local Social Services department about care home fees. You will then have an assessment of your care needs and a financial assessment. All of this information will be used to decide how much you can afford to pay towards your care home fees, and how much the council will contribute. Suitable care homes will then be suggested for you to consider.
Top-up fees - You are able to choose other care homes but you may be expected to find a way to cover any difference in cost. A third party can ‘top-up’ and contribute to any extra cost.
If you have any questions our care home managers will be happy to speak to you.
Our preferred method of payment is by direct debit. If you are planning a short respite stay at our care home the payments will be made weekly in advance.
If you have any questions about paying for care, our friendly care home managers would be happy to answer your questions.
Keeping our care homes safe
Keeping our residents, employees and properties safe is a priority.
Access - We have a door entry system at all of our care homes, this means that staff speak to anyone before they enter the building. Visitors should always sign in and residents have a in/out board to use. The doors are opened using a door release code and the nurse call system will alert staff when any other external door has been opened. We encourage our residents to live independently and have access to our lovely gardens, however, we monitor this access to make sure it is appriopriate.
Safeguarding - All of our employees complete a safeguarding training course to make sure our residents, who can be velnerable, are treated with respect and not abused or neglected. We are regulated by the Care Quality Commission and work closely with our local partners. All of our care home employees have manditory training and a DBS check when they start employment with us.
Health and safety - We carry out regular health and safety checks in our care homes to make sure our property is safe, risks are reduced and our equipment is in good working order.
Fire safety checks include for example:
- Weekly fire alarm testing.
- Monthly checks of; fire extingushers, fire doors, electrical items and cleaning smoke detectors and completing a fire drill.
- Quarterly fire risk assessments and fire risk audits are carried out.
- Every year we have our electircal equipment PAT tested.
Health and safety checks include for example:
- Visual inspections.
- Hoist and sling inspections.
- Hot water temperature testing.
- Internal and external environmental checks.
- Condition of garden furniture assessments.
- Legionella tests.
- Emergency lighting and nurse call system.
- Checking first aid boxes, window restrictors and wheelchairs.
We are pet friendly
We are very proud to have received a platinum award from the RSPCA for our pet friendly policy and we embrace the difference pets can make to our residents.
We are in our fifth consecutive year of winning a Housing Footprints award. This accolade shows that the RSPCA recognise our approach to promoting responsible pet ownership and how we acknowledge the positive difference animals can make to our residents. We have 109 pets living among our 800 residents, the majority of which live with residents who occupy our rented sheltered housing and leasehold properties.
We have pet policy which is available for you to read. Pet Policy v2 2018 [pdf] 349KB
"I had just lost my husband when I needed to move home so it was really important for me to find a housing association that was dog friendly so I could bring Lizzie, my west highland terrier, with me. I couldn’t bear to lose another member of my family.
Having Lizzie gives me a purpose to life, I go out walking with her everyday which helps me to keep physically and mentally fit. It means I have something in common with other residents and we have a good chat. Sussex Housing & Care’s pet policy is clear and I know my responsibilities as a pet owner.”
Resident from Nevill Court, Crowborough.
We are not for profit
We are a not for profit housing association. This means we make a surplus each year which we reinvest back into the organisation in order to continiously improve our properties and the quality of life of our residents, and to achieve our mission to help people live later life to the full.